Rumors of being stranded in the Philippines are highly exaggerated (standard:humor, 897 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Aug 04 2013	Views/Reads: 2681/1687	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
It was my birthday and I decided to celebrate it as low-key as possible. I am at that stage in life where I really do not need presents from anybody reminding me of how old I really am. I know every present represents an obligatory return on the gesture a

It was my birthday and I decided to celebrate it as low-key as possible.
I am at that stage in life where I really do not need presents from 
anybody reminding me of how old I really am. I know every present 
represents an obligatory return on the gesture and at my age, I do not 
have the energy to return anything. 

All I really need is just a friendly “Happy Birthday.” I have developed
a special rule along that line. For every “Happy Birthday” I receive, I 
am allowed one slice of birthday cake. So far I am on my 19th birthday 
cake and anticipating more. 

The rule about saying “Happy Birthday” is that as long as there is a
six-month period either way, it is still in play. I am looking forward 
to a lot more “Happy Birthday” greetings. 

After all, what do you get a person who has had as many birthdays as I
have had that would be original and surprising? Believe me, I have 
enough ties. Of course, cash is always in good taste. 

Throughout the years I have been known to pull a few surprises on the
Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage's birthday but nobody has been able 
to reciprocate. 

That is, until recently. 

It was the day of my birthday when suddenly I began receiving emails and
phone calls and they all had one theme. Not one of them was wishing me 
happy birthday but all were concerned about an email they allegedly 
received from me. 

According to this email, I was in Manila, Philippines on some mission
trip. 

Actually that was not quite unusual because several years ago I did go
on such a trip and most of my friends knew it. Now, according to this 
friendly email being sent to my friends, I was back in the Philippines 
on another mission trip. 

According to this anonymous friend, I was stranded in the Philippines. I
had been robbed, my passport had been confiscated, and I needed money 
to get out of the Philippines. No wonder I have been feeling tired 
lately! 

Of all the birthday presents a person might receive this one really
beats the birthday cake. I would not have thought of this in 1 million 
years. 

My email account had been hacked into and all of my email contacts were
sent what seemed to be an emergency email. Most of my friends were 
relieved to find out that I was not stranded in the Philippines. 

My Korean publisher actually was willing to put up money to rescue me
from my situation. Two other people were trying to find out how to get 
money to bail me out. 

The thing that worries me along this line is of all of my friends only
three were willing to bail me out financially. I must make a mental 
note of this and never get stranded in the Philippines. 

My birthday hacking became a little more than I at first thought. 

At first it was a little joke, ha ha ha, I am really not in the
Philippines. A joke can only go so far. I thought it was the end of the 
joke, but boy, was I in for a wonderful birthday surprise. 

My entire email account had been compromised and a new email address was
inserted so all of the response would go to another person. I finally 
found out how he changed my account, changed it back and changed my 
password. 

All of my emails for the past month, including important ones from my
publisher and agent, were lost in the mysterious world of the Internet. 
Somewhere in that mystifying world, my emails are floating around not 
knowing whither to cometh or goeth. 



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